Let Me Love You
by doodleswriter357
Summary: Artie and Sam are both lonely on Valentine's Day and end up turning to each other.


**AN: This started off as an angsty Artie story and kind of just morphed into Sartie. I'm sure nobody will have a problem with that. Enjoy!**

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><p>Artie let out a deep sigh as he looked around the room. His friends were all paired off, dancing and enjoying themselves. He wasn't even sure why he had showed up in the first place. Tina had practically begged him to come, and he was a little confused as to why she had been so insistent on him tagging along. It wasn't exactly like she didn't have someone to go with. However, he didn't want to be the single person who sat at home on Valentine's Day, moping about how stupid the holiday was. He had figured that there would be at least <em>someone <em>there who didn't have a date, but it didn't look that way.

Not only did he get to watch his ex-girlfriends sway in the arms of their significant others, but he also had to deal with seeing Sugar wrapped around Rory. He had tried to avoid looking at them, since it was just a fresh stab into a wound that had been cut open time and time again. The fact that she was only considering going out with him because she felt sorry for him didn't help matters either. That had been one of the things that had always nagged him when he was in his other relationships; wondering if they were only dating him out of pity. However, hearing it stated right there in the open was humiliating.

He didn't want to begrudge his friends on their relationships; he was happy for them. However, he was just sick of being the one sitting on the sidelines while everyone else got a happy ending. It always seemed to end that way though, and quite frankly he was getting sick of it. He had half a mind to just leave then, because he was pretty sure that nobody would enjoy him sitting there, glaring out at the dance floor. Unfortunately anyone that could give him a ride was currently occupied with someone else.

He looked up in surprise as someone dropped into the chair across from him. A thoroughly depressed Sam Evans slumped down in his seat and grabbed a cookie off the plate in front of him.

"Valentine's Day sucks," he grumbled around a mouthful of crumbs.

"It sucks for single people," Artie reasoned.

"No, it just sucks," Sam said. "Last year I found out my girlfriend was cheating on me. This year –"

"You didn't get with the girl you were cheating with," Artie interrupted him with an arched eyebrow. "Look Sam, I'm sorry for your romantic troubles, but cheating is the one thing that I'm not going to excuse. It's your life and you can do whatever you please, but if you're going to unload on someone about this situation, it shouldn't be me."

Sam opened and closed his mouth without saying anything. He had been one of the few people that Artie had confided in about the whole fiasco that had happened the previous year with Brittany and Santana, and had learned via Kurt about the situation with Tina. There was an awkward silence in which both boys avoided eye contact and watched Puck attempt to dance with four of his sorority girls at once. The two hadn't been on the best of terms since the incident with the Christmas show, and Sam had been so wrapped up in trying to win back Mercedes that he hadn't had time to try and really get back into their friendship.

The awkwardness was broken when Artie grabbed a heart cookie, broke it in half, and offered one half to Sam with a cheeky smile on his face. Sam grinned back and accepted the cookie. The boys knocked the halves together before eating them.

"Do you wanna blow this place?" Sam asked after a couple of minutes. "There's nothing here for us to do and I'm getting a headache from all this pink."

"Sounds good to me," Artie said with relief. Besides, it looked like Rachel and Blaine were getting ready for another duet and that was something he would gladly miss out on. The two collected their jackets and made their way for the doors. Outside was much quieter than in the restaurant and Artie sighed with relief at the fact that he wouldn't have to shout in order to carry on a conversation. The two started off down the sidewalk, talking aimlessly about classes and Glee club, ignoring the party that was going on in the building behind them.

They ended up at a nearby park where Sam plunked down on a bench and Artie wheeled up so he was across from him.

"Tough luck about Sugar," Sam said.

"Yeah well I guess it wasn't meant to be," Artie said, trying to brush the subject off. "I'm getting used to it."

"You shouldn't though," Sam insisted. "You're better than that."

"Am I?" Artie gave a bitter laugh. "Nobody else seems to think so. I honestly don't know why I keep trying."

Sam frowned at that, starting to feel uneasy. Two different emotions were starting to battle inside him. On one hand, he wanted to shout loudly that Artie was wrong. He was amazing and anyone would be incredibly lucky to be with him. He hated seeing his friend so depressed and not able to see himself the way Sam did; talented, smart, funny, kind, adorable –

And there it was. The thing that he had been trying to ignore. The feeling that always seemed to surface when he was around Artie. He had spent most of last year suppressing them and had hoped that it had faded when he moved, but had been proven the instant Artie flashed that great big grin at him. The discussion they had in their meeting of the God Squad hadn't helped matters. He felt as though he was being put under a microscope and everyone could clearly see what his feelings were.

He had chalked it up to the fact that it was Artie – everyone was a little bit in love with him, weren't they? How could they not be, with that voice and those bright blue eyes that sparkled when he smiled? It was the moment when Sam first thought that; he knew he couldn't completely deny his feelings anymore. But he didn't want to risk anything; his friendship with Artie was too important. He had screwed up so much other stuff in his life already.

"You know what? Just forget it," Artie said, breaking into his thoughts. The other boy looked so dejected and upset that Sam found himself speaking.

"No." Artie glanced up in confusion. "You're amazing, Artie," Sam continued. "And you deserve someone to tell you that for once."

With that, Sam screwed up every drop of courage and leaned forward to press his lips against Artie's. His brain registered the fact that Artie gasped in surprise but after that it pretty much shut down due to the fact that he was kissing Artie. When he realized that Artie wasn't really kissing him back though, he pulled away hesitantly. He was trying to read the expression on Artie's face but didn't get very far before Artie's hands were grasping at his collar and pulling him back in.

Kissing Artie immediately jumped to the top of his list of things he loved to do and he really needed to turn his brain off when he was doing it, because it was interfering in things like his appreciation of the fact that Artie was currently sucking on his bottom lip and apparently this Valentine's Day wasn't going to be as terrible as he thought it would be.

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><p><em>Feedback is much appreciated as always.<em>


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